Trump impeachment prosecutor, Adam Schiff, is becoming Exhibit A in president's defense

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lawmaker walking U.S. senators methodically through the case for removing President Donald Trump from office is also becoming Exhibit A in efforts by the president’s allies to defend him.

Over the first three days of Trump’s impeachment trial, the head of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, has led a team of Democratic lawmakers serving as prosecutors as they lay out their evidence that Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading 2020 Democratic presidential contender.

Even a few of Trump’s fellow Republicans have said Schiff has made an effective case.

At the same time, Trump’s lawyers and political allies have made Schiff a central focus of their efforts to defend the president during his trial. When they laid out their written case for why Trump should be acquitted, the president’s lawyers mentioned Schiff’s name almost 100 times.

They accused the congressman of running an “unheard of procedure that denied the president any semblance of fair process,” accused him of lying and of personally orchestrating the whistleblower complaint that led to the impeachment probe.

Congressional Republicans have intensified those critiques since the start of Trump’s trial this week, accusing him of misstating the evidence against the president and running a hasty and unfair investigation.